According to reports, Paris Saint-Germain have made an enquiry concerning the services of Philippe Coutinho as the Ligue 1 side looks to come back with a bang next season following AS Monaco’s dominance last season.
Unai Emery had a nightmarish season in Europe as they crashed out in the round of 16 in the most dramatic fashion against Barcelona and the manager had come under huge pressure. Losing the domestic title to Monaco was a huge blow following that and the manager has managed to remain at the helm contrary to expectations.
Emery has been pretty wasteful in the transfer market like most managers at millionaire clubs have, and him pursuing the Brazilian international, despite having the likes of Julian Draxler, Angel Di Maria, Lucas Moura, Javier Pastore and more in the attacking midfield, reflects it aptly. The Ligue 1 side definitely has the financial power to meet Liverpool’s whopping asking fee of £87 million for the player.
The 25-year-old has been one of Liverpool’s most important players last season and had started the season with a bang before injuries halted his run for three months. Liverpool took the chance to extend his contract by five years increasing his weekly wage to £150,000, making him the highest-paid player at the club.
He is bound to cost a mammoth price for any side willing to purchase him, and this reminds Liverpool much of Luis Suarez. However, Liverpool are in a stronger position now with their Champions League stature. Manager Jurgen Klopp has already completed the signings of Dominic Solanke from Chelsea and Mohamed Salah from AS Roma and looks determined to make it big next season.
Coutinho moved to Liverpool from Inter Milan back in January 2013 for a mere £8.5 million and wasted no time in making an impact at Anfield. The inverted winger from the left wing has been Liverpool’s impact player since the last few seasons where has scored 42 goals in 181 games over four seasons.
Last season was his breakthrough though, where he was their top scorer with 14 goals. Hs ability to cut in from the flanks and pick the top corner of the goal from long ranges is quite unparalleled and PSG can be hugely advantageous from his abilities. Of course, his arrival could see the departure of some of the stars for PSG to afford his wages.
However, we expect this to fizzle out as one of those odd speculations as Klopp has grand plans surrounding Coutinho and he isn’t letting him go anytime soon.
